STAY calculation in the UK?

[rh478]

Hi there,

I have stayed continuously in the UK for the last 6 and a half years on a Tier 4 visa. I would be job hunting now. I would be very grateful if someone in the group could provide some insights into how things work for ILR. I have some questions pertaining to my application as there are as follows:

To qualify under the '10 year route', do I have to continuously live and work in the UK for the next 3 and a half years making it to 10 years, earning whatever the stipulated basic amount is?

Can I work somewhere for a year or two in any European country or US and come back, would the counting of 10 year lapse once I leave the UK? will it start as ZERO year if I do manage to come back to the UK..

Please can someone provide me the nitty gritties of this, I find it so complex and perplexing.

Thanks so much in advance

[CR001]

To qualify under the '10 year route', do I have to continuously live and work in the UK for the next 3 and a half years making it to 10 years, earning whatever the stipulated basic amount is? Yes and meet the standard requirements included being within the absence limit which is no more than 540 days absence in the whole 10 yeas and no single absence of more than 180 days.

Can I work somewhere for a year or two in any European country or US and come back, would the counting of 10 year lapse once I leave the UK? will it start as ZERO year if I do manage to come back to the UK.. Yes it will lapse, 6 months out of the UK breaks residence continuity and yes, you would then start again from zero.

[rh478]

Thank you so much for the clarification. That was helpful indeed!